Imagining What Great Means for Your Employees + Customers

It all started a couple of years ago with the term “The Great Resignation.” So much has been written on this topic, and an entire cottage industry has been created around it. There are books and blogs (among other things) sharing tips and techniques for addressing it… while also questioning whether or not it is real. For all those of you who’ve left or switched jobs, I think we know the answer to that one!

A recent New York Times discussed how the 40 million who left their jobs immediately returned to work. Rather than “The Great Resignation,” was it the Great “Renegotiation,” “Reshuffle” or “Rethink”? I do believe many were “rethinking” what they were doing. Did their job fit in with their new life at home and remote work? Were they able to juggle all the things in their schedules? They may have considered their level of ambition, as well, to determine if what they were doing would help them long-term.

As a result of that thinking, some chose to “reshuffle” to another company, and maybe even another position, making bold moves. Others “renegotiated” with their current employer, since qualified employees were at a premium. There was—and there remains—a lot of employee movement here.

Lately, I’ve heard more about “re-engagement.” Fortune talks about a call for a “glorious re-engagement.” Companies need to see this as “an opportunity to make necessary, systemic, long-term changes to the way [they] support [their] people.” I say create a culture where people feel connected and work with each other; a culture of mutual respect for contributions made. I work with many of the largest companies in the U.S. in the area of customer experience and transformation, and many are asking for solutions that help agents. This is a switch from the last two years, where they were focused mainly on the customer.

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I don’t know what the next “re” will be. Still, I believe that companies will be able to hire and retain highly qualified teams if they just “reevaluate” their culture to instill a sense of belonging in their organization. Tools and technologies are certainly available to allow self-service, automate mundane tasks, authenticate customers and employees and deploy automated quality management to streamline processes. Technologies exist to provide easy access to learning and knowledge management tools for the agents, allowing them to shift bid—and therefore letting them know it’s okay to be flexible with their work schedule. They will feel supported, knowing that their company understands that the way we work has changed drastically over the past few years.

I don’t understand why there is such a great “redo” here. If companies continue to evaluate their systems, processes and culture and engage with their employees and customers, we won’t have to worry about the great resignations, renegotiations and rethinking that are taking place today. We can embrace “remote” work and care for our employees and customers more effectively.

After all, we all know that happy employees make happy customers.